Money Coach Guide to Top Funds '98

Sarah Robertson is the trade, scholarly, and reference editor of the
Canadian Book Review Annual.

Riley Moynes and Michael Nairne are key players at The Equion Group, a
Toronto-based money management firm. The titles under review are teeming
with full-color sidebars, charts, tables, figures, and graphs. The
glossy design will inevitably strike some readers as the ultimate in
user-friendliness; others may find it distracting or even condescending.


The Money Coach, now in its fifth edition, covers the basics of
personal finance, with chapters devoted to such topics as achieving
growth, reducing taxes, and planning for retirement. There are
persistent reminders of the ravaging effects of inflation, but nothing
on deflation, a hot topic these days. An inveterate cheerleader for
mutual funds—a pillar of Equion’s business—Moynes is predictably
mute when it comes to management fees and distributions (these
unpleasant realities are exiled to the glossary).

As the mutual-fund universe continues its relentless expansion,
investors are becoming increasingly reliant on consumer’s guides. The
authors of the Money Coach Guide to Top Funds have subjected the
1400-plus funds available in Canada to Multi-Period Composite analysis
(“a simple mathematical model that eliminates end-date bias”) and
various other quantitative, as well as qualitative, measures to arrive
at a list of 100 top funds. Each top-fund profile comprises a general
commentary and data on consistency, risk, reward-to-risk relationship,
efficiency, and style. The naming of complementary and similar funds in
each profile is an invaluable feature for investors who wish to avoid
duplication in their portfolios.

In addition to the profiles, there are individual chapters on the
mechanics of mutual funds, the top-funds selection method, building a
top-funds portfolio, and investment strategies. Included in the back
matter are a glossary and a 75-page table that provides data on all
funds currently available in Canada.

As a selection tool, Money Coach Guide to Top Funds nicely complements
Gordon Pape’s Buyer’s Guide to Mutual Funds. (The ever-mutating
mutual-fund scene has made annual purchases of such guides an
unfortunate necessity.) The Money Coach is recommended for those seeking
an accessible, graphics-packed introduction to basic money matters.